Your Space and My Space and Remembering 9/11

At a restaurant the other day with my 90 year old Mother, 4 men are seated in the booth behind us as we are eating our lunch. They began to talk in very loud voices, wherein we could hear their conversation. Unfortunately it was a conversation full of curse words. F.... him. He's a S...of a B. The job is a b..... She's a c..... And on and on. There was not a sentence spoken that was not full of foul language. I asked the manager if they could speak in a quieter tone. They chose not to. The manger suggested that we move to another table. We were in the middle of our lunch and my mother is on a walker, so moving is not the easiest thing to do. I chose to stay put, but regretted it later.
We do have freedom of speech in this country. Yea!!!! But does that freedom of speech include the right to lap over into my space? I have had a person come up to me in a private club and start cursing at me in front of a room full of people. While he may have the right to say what he wants – does he have the right to come into “my space” and be rude and offensive?

In San Francisco it seems there is no law that a person has to wear clothes in public unless they are a food and beverage server. So people are now seen outside without clothes, they are in restaurants without clothes, on public transportation, etc. Again, it's not against the law.....but somehow it seems to be lapping over into my “visual” space.

On 9/11 there were some people who felt so strongly about their ideas and beliefs that they believed it was necessary to kill thousands of people to reinforce the fact that they are RIGHT. That they have their own beliefs is fine. But to force them on us through killing is the ultimate breach of another's “space”.

We all have the right of quiet enjoyment.

THE GREAT AMERICAN LIE

THE GREAT AMERICAN LIE

We are all concerned with the loss of life in foreign wars. We are all concerned about being good honest people. But one wonders, when looking back in history, how the government could have made war against its own citizens who were existing peacefully?

I am referring to our history of the government abusing nuclear power – and lying to the citizens of the United States of America. While “most” of the catastrophes were accidental – the coverups and statements of untruth were not.

This could be a book in itself so let us state it is only going to be a quick summary of some of the greater lies. Google any of the incidents for reams of further information that has finally come forth.

HANFORD, WASHINGTON

1943 – Hanford, Washington (about 4 hours southeast of Seattle), a building project was started to create 9 atomic reactors that subsequently created the material used in the atomic bombs and supplied the entire nuclear arsenal of the US Military.

1945 – We see what dropping the atomic bombs did to the Japanese. If they weren't vaporized, they were burned and made sick from the radiation poisoning. Babies were born with increased rate of birth defects. Long term cancer deaths increased.

1945-1971 – Cooling water for the Hanford facilities was secretly pumped back into the Columbia river, much of it radioactive because of leaks in tanks. Radioactive clouds were purposely released and drifted up to Canada and down to California. People were getting sick, animals were being born deformed or dead. The government denied all responsibility.

1986 – Finally, when the family of Tom Bailie (all living in the area) had all died from cancer, he teamed with a reporter from the Spokesman Review to get answers. The radiation victims sued the US government and forced it to open its SECRET files. The radioactive releases (which had been denied) became public knowledge. Some lawsuits are still ongoing.

1988 – Facility decomissioned. It is the most contaminated location in the Western Hemisphere. 240 square miles are uninhabitable due to radioactivity that has seeped into the soil and ground water. The clean up project costs more than $2 BILLION per year. The US Department of Energy hopes to have cleanup completed by 2052, more than 107 years after its inception. This illustrates how the use of nuclear power saves money over other electricity production methods – or not.

SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

1959 – An experimental nuclear facility owned by Rocketdyne experienced a meltdown of 13 fuel rods out of 52 rods. When a meltdown occurs, the energy produced increases at a very high rate of speed, leading eventually to an explosion. Because it was an experiemental facility there was no concrete dome containment cover. Radiation was released into the air, now estimated to be more than 240 times the amount that was released from Three Mile Island accident. This spread throughout the surrounding areas including Los Angeles. At the time the US Nuclear Commission issued a statement “of a small mishap involving 1 fuel rod”.

2011 – There has never been an official study of the effects of being downwind after this accident. However, a citizen-activist site on Facebook called “Secrets of the Santa Susana Field Lab is asking for posts on their map.

Ignorance is not bliss. Maybe it would be better if the United States residents became informed, then alarmed, and demonstrated (peacefully) – for the betterment of decisions, for the betterment of lives.

Lying to the residents of the United States by the government is not acceptable. Not then and not now.

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Book Review: THE DISQUIET SURVIVORS of The Nuclear Catastrophe

                  Hello, I'm excited to tell that my book is now available to purchase at http://www.booksandnovelstoread.com.  The book is written as a  thriller suspense novel.  And, this website is dedicated to books by new and emerging authors.  There are thousands of new and original stories to be had, books that the public would never get to experience, if it were left up the "Publishing Industry".  Have a look at this website and you will be pleasantly surprised.  Please pass this onto all your contacts interested in reading so the word can be spread.  Links are at the bottom of the page.  Reviewed by Terry Callister, author.

A Review of THE DISQUIET SURVIVORS of The Nuclear Catastrophe by Barbara Billig

 

Also published as:  The Nuclear Catastrophe by Barbara Billig

Please note that the author is currently changing the name of this book from A Nuclear Catastrophe to that above. The print book is done and the eBook will follow shortly.

Every so often you come across a book that you can’t put down; you just want to know what happens over on the next page. I warn you, this is one of those. It is also a story that is very relevant today considering the events in Japan earlier this year.

The writing drags you into the pages as the characters fight to survive the aftermath of a massive explosion at the White Water Nuclear Plant in Southern California following a fairly minor earth tremor. Barbara has done what one of my favourite authors of all time, Leon Uris, has done, taken solid fact and cleverly crafted an excellent fictional story around it, faction as I call it. Leon Uris used history, Barbara science. By the way I checked out the science and worryingly it is all factual.

Not that the science gets in the way of this troubling story. It is used fleetingly to explain, in layman’s terms, the dangers that follow the release of massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere following a blast. A modern nuclear facility can release fifty times more radiation into the atmosphere than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of WW II. That’s how serious this problem is.

As the reality of their situation dawns on the victims of the fallout then Barbara introduces ever more problems for the characters to face. You can’t drink the water, because it is radioactive. Hospitals close their doors to new patients for fear of contaminating those already in the facility. I won’t spoil it any more but the list goes on.

One of the worst aspects of their situation is the complete lack of a co-ordinated rescue plan by the authorities. Well why prepare for something that can never happen? Like all politicians and those in authority they never seem to learn from history. The likes of 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl immediately spring to mind and of course more recently the terrible disaster in Fukushima, Japan.

Looking at politicians and their lack of understanding of the importance of history you need look no further than the conflict in Afghanistan as a prime example. The British were fighting there over a hundred years ago, the Russians tried and now the USA and Britain again. Political expediency in the USA and Britain means the troops will pull out before the job is done and the Taliban will be back in power before too long. Why did we go there in the first place? Do the powers that be never learn?

This isn’t an easy read, but you know it was never going to be, the subject is far too important. For all that it is a very good story, one that needed telling and one that should be made compulsory reading for all political leaders who are considering building more nuclear power stations. Perhaps it should be compulsory reading for all our youth also, so they can become aware of the dangers and take up the fight against this menace.

Barbara Billig is obviously passionate about this subject and this comes across in her writing. You will be swept away from the first page. Barbara must also be a keen observer of people, throughout the story her characters come to life with subtle little flicks of the hand, a look in the mirror and much more.

This is a thoroughly good read, an important story, not to be missed.

My Rating 5 out of 5.

To buy a copy of the printed book click here.

To buy the eBook click here.

ebook is currently on sale for 99 cents!!!!

To buy the eBook in Pounds Sterling click here.

To go to Barbara Billig's blog click here.

Reading a new way - on your smart phone

Because I have made my book, The Nuclear Catastrophe, available for 99 cents through Amazon.com Kindle version, I want to take a moment to talk about reading a kindle version on another device.  The kindle application is available for download on your computer, net book, or smart phone.  I recently was emailed a thriller by a fellow author, The Catalytic Programme, by Terry Callister:

http://www.booksandnovelstoread.com/mybooks.html   (This was a great read!)

 I had to decide how to read  this book since I didn't have a kindle or a nook or a net book.  I tried reading it on my laptop, but that proved very cumbersome in bed - I couldn't lay down and read - I had to sit up.  So since it was emailed to me I opened up the email on my smart phone (Verizon Droid).  It has apps for the kindle, nook, and .pdf files.  I had actually made the statement - I can't imagine anyone reading a book on their phone!!!  (Like who would be so crazy as to do that).  But it was absolutely perfect for reading an ebook.  The apps resize the text to whatever you like.  The phone is back lit so you can read in the dark without a reading light (at night in bed).   It's light weight - easy to hold. And when you hold the phone upright (not horizontal) the text across is just right for an eye to read in speed reading mode - you don't read individual words, you scan whole lines one at a time (for those of you who remember taking the speed reading courses - do they still teach those?)  I absolutely loved it.  AND, you have your phone with you at all time so whenever you have a spare moment - you can read.
     For those of you who think this is stupid - you better re-evaluate the future.  Paper is very expensive and will get more so as our trees disappear.  I am a paperback addict -  but I know that ebooks will soon be our main means of getting books.  So get prepared now -  download the kindle app and for 99 cents try out The Nuclear Catastrophe on your smart phone.

   

2 Peaches in Greater LA found high in radiation!!!!!!

Two Peaches in Greater Los Angeles found high in radiation

In Los Angeles, on Friday, July 8th, 2011, two peaches found at a local Santa Monica market were confirmed to have sustained radiation levels of 81 CPMs, or greater. The market's background radiation was said to be about 39 CPMs. The two peaches, thus, had significantly high radiation contamination equaling over two times site background levels.
http://www.enviroreporter.com/radiation-station-stats/
Another blogger noted that: "What makes this discovery especially significant is that the 2X background radioactivity detected in these peaches was likely significantly attenuated by their water content; when eaten the exposure rate may be significantly higher. Even worse, it is likely that the detected radioactivity is from a longer half life radionuclide; which when eaten, would irradiate a person from the inside out for potential years to come."
@Potrblog, July 10th, 2011, at 8:05 pm
http://www.enviroreporter.com/2011/03/enviroreporter-coms-radiation-station/
Additionally, it appears the Greater Los Angeles Basin is continuing to get intermittent low level elevated radiation readings. That is, radiation levels less than 100 CPMs, but elevated relative to normal background levels for the geiger counter testing station).
http://www.enviroreporter.com/radiation-station-stats/

Nuclear Whistle Blower, Engineer Walter Tamosaitis, demoted

Nuclear whistle-blower backed by watchdog agency

Engineer Walter Tamosaitis was sidelined by his bosses after raising concerns about the risks of dealing with radioactive waste near Hanford, Wash. A government agency supports him after a yearlong inquiry.

• 

Energy Secretary Steven Chu testifies before the Senate Appropriations… (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

July 06, 2011|By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times

Walter Tamosaitis, once a top engineer in the nation's nuclear weapons cleanup program, has been relegated to a basement storage room equipped with cardboard-box and plywood furniture with nothing to do for the last year.
Tamosaitis' bosses sent him there when he persisted in raising concerns about risks at the Energy Department's project to deal with millions of gallons of radioactive waste near Hanford, Wash., including the potential for hydrogen gas explosions.

Failed post and Responsibility of Nations

 What causes a nation to take responsibility for its catastrophes?  It is not just  a matter of the wealth of a nation.  In the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan 200,000 buildings collapsed.  In the March 2011 Fukushima earthquake very few buildings fell (excluding those swept away by the tsunami).  Japan had taken extensive measures to reinforce buildings and infrastructure.  But they did not prepare for the nuclear catastrophe.



This blog refuses to post.  Guess it is a catastrophe.

A 2007 study by the economist Charles Kenny aruges that the construction industry is the most corrupt sector of the world economy.  And the more corruption that exists - whether the usage of substandard materials or the building in areas that are unsuitable or unstable - the more likely there are to be deaths.

Some countries have adopted strong laws with severe penalties.  The original owner (or builder) is held liable for any damage suffered during the first 10 years of the building's life.  The owner (or builder) can be charged with fraud and even murder.  With laws like this owners often exceed the provisions of the strict building code to avoid liability.

It's sad we just can't count on people to do "the right thing".  We have to have laws to hold them accountable.

Public Policy and catastrophes

Summer Sale at Amazon Kindle Ebooks

Summer Sale - ninety nine cents to download The Nuclear Catastrophe on Amazon.com Kindle Ebooks.
Get yourself up and running - don't miss out.  Downloads can be to a free kindle on your computer or smart phone or notepad - or a stand alone Kindle.

Explosion and fire at French Nuclear Plant July 2, 2011

Explosion and fire at French nuclear plant, Deutsche Presse Agentur July 2, 2011:

Google Translation

In the southern French nuclear plant Tricastin it came to French media reports of an explosion.
On the grounds of the southern French nuclear plant Tricastin, there have been media reports in France after a transformer explosion and fire. The fire department was able to bring the fire under control in the afternoon, it said on the website of the regional newspaper “Dauphine Libere” on Saturday. People were not injured. The management of the nuclear power plant north of Marseille on the incident itself did not immediately comment.
The transformer was part of the reactor block 1, which is currently shut down, and was located outside the nuclear zone. Residents had reported thick black smoke. The nuclear power plant Tricastin with four pressurized water reactors of 915 megawatts each is in operation since 1981.

Start fire in EDF power Tricastin, “Dauphine Libere”, July 2, 2011:

Google Translation

A fire broke out on the EDF power Tricastin, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Drôme). Residents, worried, said a column of black smoke rose into the sky.
This is the explosion of the transformer of Unit 1 plant, which is stationary. Installation is located outside the nuclear zone. No one was hurt and there was no damage to the environment.
As always when an incident affecting the nuclear site, a large number of firefighters and police converged the scene. The fire was contained to 15 h 55.

h/t Lucas Whitefield Hixson



Here is the June 15 video by Alex in Tokyo with English subtitles:

For background information about this video, see: Alex, Frenchman living in Tokyo: “All my videos regarding Fukushima have been cancelled from YouTube” — Not one left this morning

Radiation sickness exposure table

The headline of 3000 microseiverts of internal radiation  being received by people within 40 miles of Fukushima converts as follows:  (each microseivert =.000001 Sv). The ENENEWS article estimates that residents have been internally exposed to up to 3.2 millisieverts for about 2 months, measuring from the date of the accident in March until early May. That converts into .0032 Sieverts (Sv).

 Up to .25 Sv there are no outward symptoms in the average adult.  But this is accumulating radiation - and radiation is like having microscopic bullets shot through your body - the more shot, the better the chances a bullet will hit something strategic in a cell......and cause its death or damage.  Also, small children in more danger.

Symptoms of acute radiation (dose received within one day):^[4]

• 0 – 0.25 Sv (0 – 250 mSv): None
• 0.25 – 1 Sv (250 – 1000 mSv): Some people feel nausea and loss of appetite; bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen damaged.
• 1 – 3 Sv (1000 – 3000 mSv): Mild to severe nausea, loss of appetite, infection; more severe bone marrow, lymph node, spleen damage; recovery probable, not assured.
• 3 – 6 Sv (3000 – 6000 mSv): Severe nausea, loss of appetite; hemorrhaging, infection, diarrhea, peeling of skin, sterility; death if untreated.
• 6 – 10 Sv (6000 – 10000 mSv): Above symptoms plus central nervous system impairment; death expected.
• Above 10 Sv (10000 mSv): Incapacitation and death.   (Source: Wikipedia)

Survival List for Nuclear Disaster

           To be on the safe side plan for 14 days
1.  Choose safe place in house - as far away from windows as possible
2.  Close all blinds and window coverings.  Close all doors.  DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.
3.  Stock your survival area with:
     a) bottled water - LOTS
     b) food encased in plastic - NO METAL (absorbs radioactivity) + Pet food + plastic cups &eating  
          ware (spoons, forks, etc) paper plates
     c) plastic bags -all sizes - for body wastes, pet wastes, garbage, etc.
     d) batteries & portable radio
     e) flashlight and batteries
    f) candles and matches
    g) bedding
    h) ice cubes in ice chest - will only last a few days
    i) clothing for 14 days and toiletries and medicines
    j) newspapers (for cleaning up messes), paper towels, toilet paper

Post this list on the inside of a cabinet or closet door.  Pretend you are going to be camping for two weeks with minimal provisions - no outside water, no electricity or gas.  Do NOT try and bring in a BBQ grill - you will kill yourself with carbon monoxide poisoning.  No fires inside - it will bring in the outside air -which will be radioactive.

Keep rotating survival type foods in your pantry so they don't get old but you do have them on hand.

Radiation danger

Stay out in the sun too long and you will burned - even as much as 2nd or 3rd degree burns.  That's radiation.  Now medicare has approved giving 2 cat scans in one day to diagnose a medical problem.  Each cat scan is equal to 350 xrays.  So if you get two in one day that's the equivalent of 700 xrays at one time - 2 a day for a year - but all at one time.  That plus the other radiation you get ought to give you a medical problem if you didn't have one before. BEWARE!!!!

Stay or Flee

No one is going to stay around to run public transportation, police and fire services, or  open stores to sell goods.  Why?  Because radiation, once released, is going to be in the air, attached to dust particles, in the water, absorbed by metal.  Anyone who stays will be exposed to radiation.  Sunburn comes from a mild form of radiation - and you can get 3rd degree burns from Sunburn.  Just think what high levels of radiation - like from Japan's disaster - will do to a body - like bullets shooting through our cells damaging and destroying them.

What would you do?

We've all heard about Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and now the Japan nuclear disaster.  But the question is - what would you do if there were a nuclear disaster in your area?  It could be a nuclear reactor - there are over 100 in the United States.  Or it could be a terrorist dirty bomb.   So..... what do you do?

 The psychologists tell us the basic reaction is fight or flight.  You either stay or you run.  If you stay - you have an invisible enemy - Radiation - it can't be seen, it can't be heard, it can't be felt - until it's too late. 

If you run - how do you get away?  In the Los Angeles area when the Watts riots occurred after the acquittal of the police in the Rodney King beatings, citizens left the Los Angeles area in mass.  As of 2 pm in the afternoon every road, every freeway going away from Los Angeles was jammed so that passage was impossible.  One story told of getting to the outside of the Los Angeles airport entrance and sitting in the same spot for one hour.  Finally inching forward the car made it approximately 10 more miles in 4 hours.

And if you stay - is anything going to be open to serve you?  Something to think about.  Give me your thoughts.  Barbara Griffin Billig